Labor, Environment and Sustainable Development

The Labor, Environment, and Sustainable Development Initiative advances knowledge, policies, and practices to enhance the role of labor and working people in addressing the environmental and climate crises. The initiative's efforts focus on building a truly sustainable society and economy.

The initiative also helps workers’ rights advocates to better understand the employment and labor implications of environmental, climate and sustainability issues through a variety of activities:

Signature Project

Project Sandy

Hurricane Sandy revealed serious deficiencies in NYS's energy infrastructure as 8 million people lost power. The Worker Institute at Cornell is convening a Labor Task Force on New York State's Energy Future that will promote resilient communities, job creation and effective climate protection.

Spotlight

Trade Unions for Energy Democracy is a global, multi-sector initiative to advance democratic direction and control of energy in a way that promotes solutions to the climate crisis, energy poverty, the degradation of both land and people, and the repression of workers' rights and protections.